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Colorado Special Education Directors’
Leadership Academy
2015
MARY LYNN BOSCARDIN, PH.D.
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS AMHERST
ROB SCHULZE, ED.D.
JOHNSON STATE COLLEGE, VERMONT
PATRICK TUDRYN, ED.D.
EAST WINDSOR, CT PUBLIC SCHOOLS
Getting to the Thematic Goal
FINDING YOUR BHAG!!
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Civil War
 Silos, Politics and Turf Wars – how organizations
compete against themselves
 Silo – Barriers between departments, causing people
on the same team to work against each other
 Known by many names: Departmental politics, turf
war, etc
What are the silos in education?
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What are the silos in special education?
What do silos fight over?
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What contributes to silos in special education?
 Money
 Staffing
 Attention from administration
 Training
 Professional development
 Placements
 Others?
The Harm of Silos
-People take the presence of factions for granted, but…
-Poor communication
-Dysfunctional Systems
-Competing philosophies
-Loss of overall vision and mission
“Even the most well-meaning, intelligent people get
distracted and confused amid the endless details that come
their way every day… over time their confusion turns to
disapointment, which eventually becomes resentment –
even hostility – toward their supposed teammates. And
then the worst possible thing happens – they actually start
to work against those colleagues on purpose!”
(Lencioni, 2006, p.17)
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The Model for Combating Silos: The BHAG
“A single, qualitative focus that is shared by the entire
leadership team – and, ultimately, by the entire
organization – that applies only for a specific time
period.” (Lencioni, 2006, p. 178).
 Unambigously stated common goal
 Top priority of the entire team
 Aligns employees up and down the organization
Thematic Goal
 Single: Only ONE goal—the BHAG (Collins &
Porras)!
 Qualitative: Not number-bound. Uses terms like
improve, reduce, grow, establish
 Time-bound: Fixed time period. NOT an ongoing
objective – something you want to achieve and then
choose a new goal
 Shared: Applies to everyone (e.g.; “improving
elementary literacy services” would not be a shared
goal for a district-wide special education team)
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Set Defining and Standard Operating
Objectives
 Defining Objectives are the ‘building blocks’ of the
Thematic Goal
 Also qualitative and shared
 Standard Operating Objectives are ongoing
objectives that do not go away (budget, federal
reporting, IEP timelines, accountability
performance)
Possible Case Study: Special Education
Situation: Parental dissatisfaction with special education is growing. Due
process hearings are up, administration is needed to attend more IEP
meetings, and the legal budget is escalating rapidly.
Thematic goal: Reconnect with parents
Defining objectives:
Revitalize the PAC
Host open classroom nights
Retrain staff in conflict mediation techniques
Analyze quality of services
Standard Operating Measures
Meet special education budget
Increase special education graduation rate
Reduce number of outplacements
Get IEPs signed
Continually improve staff
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Why have a thematic goal?
 Gets the entire team
working together
 Gives a greater focus
than every-day tasks
 Allows for success,
rather than a goal
which can only ever be
worked towards
 Unites the staff, rather
than divides them
Exploring Silos in Special Education Programs in
Districts
 What silos do you have in your districts?
 What standard operating measures do you always
need to meet?
 Utilizing your prioritized indicators from yesterday’s
sort activity, what thematic goals do you think your
districts may need to work on? How would these
goals unite your staff?
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What is the benefit to busting silos?
Homework!
 When you meet with your smaller groups later on in
the year, keep BHAG in mind – how have you made
progress towards uniting the staff and smashing your
silos? What are your challenges and successes?
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THANK YOU
 Names, addresses, contact info, etc
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